Tomeka Reid was named one of twenty five MacArthur Fellows for 2022.

Based in Chicago, Tomeka is active as a performer, composer, teacher and band leader. She leads the Tomeka Reid Quartet which released its second album Old New in 2019, and is a member of the trio Hear in Now. In 2022 she was named Jazz String Player of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association for a second time. 

Dr. Joshua Zink (MM in Performance and Literature, 2008) has been named a 2022 Emerging Leaders Award by the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Zink has been on the faculty at Carson-Newman University since 2017 and is being recognized for his success as an early-career teacher of singing. To read the full news story, please click here.

Alumna Noël Wan won Second Prize in the 2021 Orford Music Awards held in Quebec, Canada this August. She also was the semi-finals Audience Award winner. Her program featured her own transcriptions of demanding works by J.S. Bach and Leo Brouwer as well as Alexina Louie’s From the Eastern Gate, chosen "especially to represent shared identities as diasporic Asian women." 

Senior Jeffrey Elem (BM, Composition) was selected as the UIUC Student Employee of the Year for his work at Japan House.

Maggie Ward (junior, BME) received the collegiate National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Professional Achievement Award.

The Legacy Awards recognize college alumni and friends who have demonstrated courage, curiosity, and passion in their work.

The Experiential Orchestra, conducted by James Blachly (MM Orchestra Conducting, 2013), has earned its first Grammy award.

Nominations for the 63rd Grammy Awards include two alumni and one current student from the UI School of Music.

The Percussive Arts Society award recognizes the contributions of the most highly regarded leaders in percussion education.

Dai-An Liu, an Artist Diploma candidate, won 4th Prize ex aequo in the 5th Hong Kong International Harp Competition in the Professional Pedal Division held in early October.

Due to the worldwide pandemic, the competition had 15 divisions, conducted online or onsite. The Professional Pedal Division attracted participants from throughout the world.